Posted By: GIG'EM AGGIES
Is your lake turning over ? Explanation - 10/16/17 01:34 PM
Lake turnover is the process of a lake's water turning over from top (epilimnion) to bottom (hypolimnion). During the summer, the epilimnion, or surface layer, is the warmest. It is heated by the sun. The deepest layer, the hypolimnion, is the coldest. The sun's radiation does not reach this cold, dark layer.
During the fall, the warm surface water begins to cool. As water cools, it becomes more dense, causing it to sink. This dense water forces the water of the hypolimnion to rise, "turning over" the layers.
Of course we don't normally get a layer of ice here in the winter but you can see the transitions from spring to winter. Several, including myself noticed the brown yucky foam on the surface at Fork this past week. Is this part of the " turning over " process ? Possibly. I saw it from midlake all the way past the 154 bridge and as some mentioned fishing was tough. The only fish I caught were in 20-25 FOW. Some say when the lake is actually turning over you will see crud from the actual bottom floating on top. The pictures and description provided doesn't support that theory. What say you ?
During the fall, the warm surface water begins to cool. As water cools, it becomes more dense, causing it to sink. This dense water forces the water of the hypolimnion to rise, "turning over" the layers.
Of course we don't normally get a layer of ice here in the winter but you can see the transitions from spring to winter. Several, including myself noticed the brown yucky foam on the surface at Fork this past week. Is this part of the " turning over " process ? Possibly. I saw it from midlake all the way past the 154 bridge and as some mentioned fishing was tough. The only fish I caught were in 20-25 FOW. Some say when the lake is actually turning over you will see crud from the actual bottom floating on top. The pictures and description provided doesn't support that theory. What say you ?